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Ordinary folks just trying to get ahead

Victor Reilly once again seeks to mischaracterize all Republicans by stating they are "simply the party for the rich." Millions of very ordinary citizens of various social and economic backgrounds just rebutted that statement in the last election in a loud and clear voice. Has he seen the citizens attending Tea Party rallies? Do they look like plutocrats?

People I have seen at various political turnouts looked very much like ordinary citizens who are fed up with the direction in which our country is headed -- citizens tired of politicians who ignore their wishes and legislate health-care and other social programs without regard to affordability, constitutionality and, better yet, understandability! If these elected officials don't make changes, they in turn will be voted out, just like the Democrats.

As to the "sweet deal" on unearned income, the 15 percent tax on capital gains applies to profits on long-term gains only (those stocks held over a year). Any other gain is taxed as ordinary income and at the income level of the filer, certainly not 35 percent for most of us.

Last time I looked, millions of Americans owned stock in hopes of increasing their wealth and sharing in the country's prosperity (but in most cases they have yet to recoup losses of the last 3 years). By the way, that 15 percent tax rate on long-term capital gains was put in to encourage ordinary citizens to invest in America by purchasing stock in companies they believe in so they, in turn, could grow and prosper. It's called capitalism.